Astros select Carlos Correa with No. 1 overall pick in MLB draft

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The Astros’ mantra of “no quick fixes” went beyond free-agent dormancy into their historic first pick in the MLB draft on Monday night.

In selecting 17-year-old Puerto Rican shortstop Carlos Correa over a coterie of college pitchers, the Astros made the commitment to taking their guy, no matter how long the process of turning him into the big leaguer they think he can be.

The product of the Puerto Rico Baseball Academy, which combines a traditional education with intense baseball training, was one of the youngest players in the draft but among those with the highest upside.

A righthanded hitter with power, Correa stands 6-4, 190, which makes the organization hesitant to declare him a shortstop for life. For bigger players, a move to third base is sometimes an eventuality.

“That’s any risk when you take a younger player, especially now he’s 17 years old and has a big frame,” assistant general manager of scouting Bobby Heck said. “But he has advanced feet, advanced hands — he can really throw. Right now he stays at shortstop, and if he does happen to grow out of it, it’s the power that’s the attraction here.”

Correa expects to be able to remain at the infield’s premium defensive position.

“I can play either, but I want to play shortstop,” Correa said. “I want to reach the big leagues as a shortstop. So I have to work hard to keep my agility and my feet quick.”

This draft was seen as having no premium talent like a Stephen Strasburg or Bryce Harper, which led to many days of debate and a pick that had outsiders guessing until the final minutes.

Correa was selected over Stanford pitcher Mark Appel, who fell to the Pirates at No. 8 perhaps due to concerns over his signability with Scott Boras advising him, and Georgia high school outfielder Byron Buxton, who went No. 2 to the Twins.

“I don’t think there was a true No. 1 guy,” Heck said. “There’s four other guys we could have talked about up there and we all would have been happy.”

Talent trumps age

But the Astros took a particular interest in Correa. They had him in for a private workout in Kissimmee, Fla., where he played a simulated game with minor leaguers.

“He was three to four years younger than most of the players on the field, and he was the only amateur, and he absolutely stood out among the professionals that were down there,” said general manager Jeff Luhnow, who attended the session.

But most of the Astros’ meaningful scouting of Correa was done on the showcase circuit — tournaments that put elite amateur talent in front of a lot of scouts at once.

Heck estimated that eight to 10 different Astros scouts and front-office officials had seen him in a pursuit that dated back more than a year.

The Astros have until the new accelerated deadline of July 13 to sign Correa. The assigned value for the No. 1 pick is $7.2 million, but all that does is contribute to the Astros’ total pool of $11.2 million to be used on their picks in the first 10 rounds (11 selections). The Astros can spend less than the $7.2 million on the University of Miami commitment should they need more for their supplemental first-round pick — Boras advisee Lance McCullers Jr., a hard-throwing prep righthander who was the Gatorade National Player of the Year.

The pick emerged from a crowded room that served as the setting for Luhnow’s first draft as general manager and Heck’s fifth with the Astros. Heck has gone with an up-the-middle position player with the first pick of all five of his drafts, and this is his second first-round shortstop, with 2009 first-rounder Jiovanni Mier the first.

National pride

Correa is the first Puerto Rican to be drafted No. 1 overall. The Puerto Rican chosen highest previously was catcher Ramon Castro, whom the Astros selected 17th in 1994.

“It means a lot,” Correa said. “It’s history, man. It’s the first time it’s happened in the draft, so I feel very excited and very happy for it, and I feel I have to work harder right now to get to the big leagues the quickest that I can.”